Rudy Gay 2.0

Bill Simmons rankings of course have laughable knee jerk reactionary rankings all over, but this one stuck out the most to me.

Whether George becomes a true franchise guy remains to be seen. Right now, he's "Rudy Gay 2.0" — a feistier defender and much better all-around player, but someone who doesn't shoot well enough to carry an offense (you know, just like Gay). This year, George made 64 percent of his shots at the rim and 34 percent of his shots everywhere else. The league shot 40 percent from 3 to 9 feet, 42 percent from 10 to 15 feet, 38 percent from 16 to 23 feet, and 36 percent on 3s. George went 26 percent, 34 percent, 37 percent and 36 percent. In other words … below average. But he just turned 23, and maybe these next few Knicks-Pacers games could alter his NBA destiny.

 Yea, lets breeze over everything about basketball besides shooting.  So pretty much any athletic SF who doesn't shoot well enough to carry a team is a Rudy Gay 2.0, right?  Paul George is one of the furthest things from Gay.  He is not a gunner, a great teammate, MUCH better defender, passer, and better on the boards.  And no, a series vs. NY to see who gets beat by Heat next is not going to change his NBA destiny.  Maybe he will rise or fall 20 spots in these rankings, but real NBA fans opinions will not hinge on this series.

A couple other rankings that stood out.  Melo at 6 with some horrible Skip Bayless type logic. "He wants it more and isn't scared!"... Okay.  Curry at 3.  WHAT?  Don't get me wrong, I love watching Curry, but you can't write 7 paragraphs about Irving's injuries and then not even mention Curry's repeatedly sprained ankles.  Talk about short term memory.

Too bad Simmons didn't write this article a couple weeks later or Nate Robinson would of been in the top 10.